Steve wants reflections, so let’s give him reflections. Fluff it up a little and hypnotize it. Maybe there was an old trapper that lived out here and maybe one day he went to check his beaver traps, and maybe he fell into the river and drowned. Very easy to work these to death. A thin paint will stick to a thick paint. I guess that would be considered a UFO. A big cotton ball in the sky.
In your imagination you can go anywhere you want. Now we don’t want him to get lonely, so we’ll give him a little friend. Maybe there’s a little something happening right here. I want everbody to be happy. That’s what it’s all about.
We have all at one time or another mixed some mud. Use what you see, don’t plan it. No pressure. Just relax and watch it happen. It’s beautiful – and we haven’t even done anything to it yet.
Talk to trees, look at the birds. Whatever it takes. Just go back and put one little more happy tree in there. In painting, you have unlimited power. You have the ability to move mountains. You can bend rivers. But when I get home, the only thing I have power over is the garbage. God gave you this gift of imagination. Use it. A fan brush is a fantastic piece of equipment. Use it. Make friends with it. And that’s when it becomes fun – you don’t have to spend your time thinking about what’s happening – you just let it happen.
Remember how free clouds are. They just lay around in the sky all day long. We need dark in order to show light. Everybody’s different. Trees are different. Let them all be individuals. All you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind.
Work on one thing at a time. Don’t get carried away – we have plenty of time. Don’t fiddle with it all day. If these lines aren’t straight, your water’s going to run right out of your painting and get your floor wet. I thought today we would make a happy little stream that’s just running through the woods here. Now we can begin working on lots of happy little things. Van Dyke Brown is a very nice brown, it’s almost like a chocolate brown.